Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-08-29
MUSICAL BOXES.
The Chinese Very Fond of Them.
How They Are Made.

II
How They Are Made.
[Jewelry News.
There is a great demand for musi-
cal boxes from China" said dealer.
"The Chinese are pasionately fond of
them, and at festival a Chinaman
who can afford it carries music box
in each pocket"
"What music do they like hest ?"
"All Chinese; they will have no
other. The sweetest strains from
Troyatore, Mignon and Faust are as
sweet bells tangled and out of tune to
Chinaman We have to employ men
who can reduce the Chinese music to
written notes, and from this as copy
the music box is made. We have to
make up a different set for every
country If we should send boxes to
France that played Nellie Grey
Way Down on the Swanee River
when You and l Were Young, Mag
gie,' or Sweet By and-By,' we should
get them back quick enough"
"National airs are the first tunes
chosen, then the popular, and then
selections from famous operas. Scotch
tunes, except Aud Lang Syne' and
Bonnie Doom ere difficult to render
effectively by music box, and they
are rarely used. The great expense
in the manufacture of music boxes
arises from the necessity of changing
the tunes, discarding those that are
tiresome and substituting the latest
and most popular. But sit down
while We talk"
The writer took seat and the
strains of "Farandale" from coli
vette" foated from beneath the
chair.
"Have cigar?" He turned cigar
stand, and there came out of it the
air of the drinking song in Girotie
Girofa.
:'This is the picture of our Swiss
factory"
As the album was opened there
come out of it an air from Fa Diavolo.
"Will you take a pinch of snuff"
As the lid was raised there was
whisper of "Should Auld Acquaint-
ance be Forgot?"
"We have customer who has
music-box attachment to his front
door, and his visitors are always
greeted by tune. "A music-box can
be concealed in very small compass,
and one of the reigning demands is
for articles that contain them, so as to
create pleasant surprises. Dolls,
clocks and books are provided with
them. Nearly all of the music-boxes
are maid in Sainte Croix or Geneva,
in Switzerland"
"The principle of manufacture is
simple. The different parts comprise
a brass roller studded with fine points
of the hardest steel, steel comb, the
teeth of which give the sounds, a
spring to give the revolving motion to
the cylinder, and fy-wheel or fan to
regulate the revolving motion. The
music has at first to be arranged by
thorough artist. The cylinder, which
comes from the machine shop, is then
placed in the hands of woman, who,
with the aid OF the music and very
ingenious machine, marks the places
on the cylinder where the points are
to be inserted. Another person drills
all the little holes, and another inserts
the points The cylinder is then
filled with molten cement; and then
placed on the lathe and revolved
quickly. The cement adheres to tt e
inside surface, and thus holds the
points. A hole is left in the centre Of
the cylinder for the axle. The points
are then filed down so as to be of equal
length. The comb is turned by a
tuner, who first files the teeth, with
out excessive care, to give them the
proper fexibility, and then files them
near the base to lower the tones and
near the points to sharpen the tones.
The operation of fastening the cylinder
and comb to the bed-plate requires
much accuracy, so that the points Of
the cylinder and the comb will ex-
actly meet. A woman following the
music then bends the points on the
cylinder slightly forward in order to
secure more strength, but more es-
pecially to make the cords drop stimuli
taneously and cause the runs or
roulades to be played evenly"
"Size in music boxes increases both
their volumes and their richness in
tone. A cylinder ten inches long can
be made to play six, eight, ten or
twelve airs we'll, but it will play six or
eight airs better and with more sweet
ness and harmony of sound than it
can be made to play greater number.
The reason of this is that more points
on the cylinder and more teeth in the
comb can be used for each air if there
are fewer airs. The space between
the teeth decreases with the number
of airs. If the cylinder is increased
in diameter the airs may be pro-
longed."
elbow long does music box last %
cit is like watch. 1t will last
lifetime if it is good to begin with, and
is treated we'll and with care. Most
owners of music boxes object to using
them except for company. The fact
is, music box should be used every
day, just as watch should be wound
nm avarv daV